More Than Friends
by Dave the Wordsmith
Summary: Huey and Cindy end up with the same class schedule, changing their relationship. How will this alter the way they interact with one another, as well as their other friendships? This is an entry for The most unlikely couples contest by theContestCreator.
1. Chapter 1

**More Than Friends  
**

By** DaveTheWordsmith**

**Disclaimer: **Boondocks is owned by Sony Pictures Digital Inc. and Aaron McGruder. All the copyrights associated with Boondocks belong to them. Only the ideas contained within this story are the property of the author. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.

* * *

**Note:** First, I want to thank everyone who reviewed my fic "Choices". I appreciated all of the feedback. The update for "Choices" will be uploaded soon.

Second, please read and review _**Ten Yards to Victory: The Pigskin Ball, What's Mine is Mine **_and**_ Fate's Destined End_ **by** IceLegatus**. They are excellent fics and they should be checked out by everyone.

And third, I chose to do this fic _**More Than Friends**_ for _**A Boondocks Contest:The most unlikely couples **_by** theContestCreator** to try something new. Please don't hesitate to give positive or negative feedback, especially because this is an unlikely couples fic and any suggestions are fine with me. Thanks.**  
**

* * *

**Chapter One**

"Well, here goes nuttin'."

Fifteen year old Cindy McPhearson approached the front door, trembling and sweating, her heart about to explode from her chest. The scorching sun high above in the clear blue sky did not make her morning any better. This unbearable feeling hardly took over her body, but this time it could not be avoided. Her shaking hand reached for the doorbell, index finger extended, and poked the button a few times. Cindy played with her backpack straps during the quiet lull that filled the air. She looked up at a black crow that squawked as it flew over her head and landed on the roof. The front door's hinges squeaked when it opened to reveal an elderly man, a big smile on his face.

"Hey cutie pie, we were expectin' you! Come on in!"

Cindy grinned with a nervous twinge in the corners of her lips. "Thank you Mr. Freeman."

Granddad's eyes grew wide as he took a second look at the young girl, almost as tall as he stood. "My, my, have you grown! You gettin' taller every time I see you! You gonna be the next Diana Taurasi, ain't 'cha?"

Cindy turned her head a little, her cheeks turning red. She would have settled for Lisa Leslie, but the next Diana Taurasi had a nice ring to it. She stepped into the foyer and felt the soft, cool draft of air breeze past her face and neck.

Granddad closed the front door behind Cindy. "Want a nice, cold glass of orange juice? Some tasty French toast or how 'bout some buttery, syrupy, not to mention fluffy, pancakes?"

Cindy shook her head, the very start of her lie. "No thank you, I'm straight Mr. Freeman. I ate earlier."

"That's good. Make yourself at home!"

She watched Granddad make his way into the kitchen, most likely to fix a quick snack. The very comfortable aura made her body relax, her muscles less tense than when she bared the humidity outside. Cindy jumped at the sound of bass heavy rap music. Cindy poked her head in the living room to find Riley on the couch, in a wife-beater and sweats with his sock covered feet propped on the table.

She could hear the music from the television. _"Booty butt, booty butt, booty butt cheeks! Booty butt, booty butt, booty butt cheeks!"__  
_

Cindy chuckled while she spied on Riley, who had a grin on his face. His head moved up and down with the beat of Thugnificent's _Booty Butt Cheeks_ music video that played on the music video channel.

A trembling Cindy made her appearance by the big screen TV. Riley spotted her and flashed a smile. "What's good, Cindy? Why you here so early 'doe? School don't start fa anotha' hour!"

Her silver and platinum "CM" chain jingled with every step she took toward Riley. She plopped down on the couch next to him and gave him a pound.

"Don't you rememba? I got put in da 'Woodcrest School District Academic Achievers' program," Cindy rolled her eyes. "Fa some reason, dey think I'm smarter den a lotta da otha students in mah class, whateva dat means."

"Yo, dat's jus a fancy way of dem tellin you dat'chu gone' be gettin' mo homework ta do, mo books ta read, 'n dem long ass tests dat take foreva' ta finish 'n shit!"

Cindy smacked her forehead and groaned. "Aw man!"

"Hol' on jus a minute! If you part of dat program, den dat means you gone have classes wit…"

They both looked at Riley's brother. Cindy jutted her thumb in his direction. "Yee'uh, yo brotha Huey."

Cindy looked at Huey, who read his newspaper quietly on the other end of the couch. She looked away once Huey glared at the two "gangstas" out of his peripheral vision, then went back to his reading.

Remote in one hand, Riley channel surfed through the hundreds of music stations. He stopped on the MTV channel, which started to play Thugnificent's _Stomp 'Em in the Nuts_. "Jus promise me you won't be gettin' all nerdy on me 'n think you too good fa me, C-Murph. If you come ovah here askin fa cheese or ta borrow some of Granddad's suspenders, I'mma have ta slap ya up."

Cindy frowned. "C'mon, Riley! You know I ain't gone act like no sucka, reading books 'n learnin thangs fa no reason 'n shit! Dat's fo da birds! I'mma still be da same Cindy! Da same C-Murph, da same C-Murdah, best buh'lee dat shit!"

Riley put his fist up for Cindy to bump hers with. "No doubt, no doubt!"

"You sure you ain't hungry 'doe? Huey ain't gone eat his sausage 'n bacon. You can had'dat if you want."

Cindy rubbed her stomach but her head swiveled from left to right. "Naw, I'm cool."

She looked over at Huey, who placed his newspaper down in his lap, folded it "hot dog" style and put it in the couch. He rose from his seat and approached Cindy and Riley, his backpack with a red, black and green logo of Africa in hand.

"Cindy, the bus will be here any minute. We'd better leave right now."

Cindy shot up from her seat. "You ain't gone be tellin' me what ta do! I'mma go when I wanna go!"

"Fine, suit yourself. The next bus won't be here for another half hour. By the time the bus gets to school you'll be late, and that's not acceptable on the first day. To these teachers, late not only equals a penalty, it also means more homework and you'll have to write standards on the whiteboard in front of everybody."

Cindy growled, with her hands balled up into fists by her sides. "Fine den, but I ain't goin 'cause you told me to!"

She followed him out the door and down _Timid Deer Lane _to the corner by the _Woodcrest City Bus Stop_. Cindy stood paralyzed once she spotted the bus five blocks down the street idling at the bus stop to pick up a few people. She felt all of her bones and muscles lock tight.

Cindy's lips trembled as she watched the bus drop off a few people. "Oh hell naw, I can't do dis…"

Huey folded his arms across his chest. "Cindy, what's wrong?"

Cindy tried to hold back the tears with a few quick laughs. "You know what? I almost fuh'got! I ain't s'posed ta be in dis program, 'cause...dey don't accept white people! Dey thought I was black!"

Cindy almost laughed some more at Huey's 'you've gotta be kidding me' face. Frowning, she held her arms out at either side. "It's da truth! Didn't chu get dat letter dat dey sent chu?"

Huey's eyes closed as he slowly shook his head. "Cindy, stop digging a hole you're too deep to get out of. Your parents and Granddad told us we're going to stay in this program, and that's what we're gonna do. Now let's go."

Cindy shrieked the instant Huey had a grip of her arm. "Hell naw, Huey! I ain't goin'!"

She grunted while Huey pulled on her like in a game of tug-of-war and her arm was the rope. After a few moments of swinging on Huey, her fists hitting him on his face and his large, fuzzy afro, her attempts proved useless.

"Let me go, nigga!"

"No!"

Her white Nike Dunks slid over the concrete in the opposite direction she did not wish to travel in. Tears dripped down her face, her vision blurry from the salty water that engulfed her eyes. Cindy didn't care if Riley saw her, fell and rolled around on the ground in laughter with tears falling from his eyes. She wanted to get away from Huey and their high school, one she wished she did not have to attend. Cindy broke free and started to run away.

"Cindy, what the hell is wrong with you?" Huey grabbed Cindy and put his arms around her waist while she kicked and tried to break free from Huey's bear hug. A black notebook from her partly open backpack dropped to the ground.

Cindy pounded on Huey's arms with each word she uttered. "I ain't goin'! I, ain't, goin, mutha, fucka!"

Huey's eyebrows furrowed. His eyes grew narrow. "Yes you are! You're much better than this! I mean, c'mon, you don't want everybody gossiping about you, do you?"

Cindy stopped swinging at Huey. "What?"

"You want everybody in Woodcrest to know that Cindy 'C-Murph' McPhearson is a cry baby? A bitch? Is that what you want?"

Cindy's body relaxed and ceased its out of control movements. She scrunched up her face. "Hell naw! I damn sho' ain't no pussy if dats what'chu sayin!"

Huey let Cindy go and handed her the notebook she dropped during their skirmish. "Then stop trying to break away from me, be cool and get on the bus, all right?"

A loud hiss accompanied by high pitched squeaks made both of them stop in their tracks. Cindy looked up at the bus come to a stop, followed by the large door that opened on its own.

The large, burly, old black man in the driver's seat leaned a little in Cindy's direction, a look of pity on his face. "Aww, don't cry little guhl! I know the first couple o' days of school with these niggas 'round here can be troublesome, but after the first week when they drop out or get killed, you'll be jus fine!"

"I ain't cryin'! It's jus mah' allergies!" Cindy wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and pulled on the bottom of her red tee-shirt to straighten it out. She pulled up her baggy blue jeans, flashed her student ID to him and sat in the front row. She looked at the driver, Uncle Ruckus, and Huey busy in an argument once the young man got on the bus.

Uncle Ruckus grumbled. He held up his fist and shook it in front of an austere Huey. "I thought I told you little niggas for years now, you cain't be ridin' this bus! Why don't you go 'n get Pookie or Ray-Ray or some other nigga y'all know ta give you a ride in their car with those shiny spinnin' rims and them big ass speakers playin' that terrible, big lipped monkey nigga music of yours that y'all love so much!"

Huey pulled out his ID to show Uncle Ruckus. "Would you just shut up and take us to school?"

Huey murmured as he sat next to Cindy. Other than Huey, Cindy and Uncle Ruckus, the bus contained no other people.

Uncle Ruckus looked up at the round clock near his rear-view mirror, then back down at Huey. "Don't think I'm doin' you a favor out of the kindness of my heart, nigga. I gotta quota to meet. Consider yourself lucky."

Uncle Ruckus closed the doors and started to drive away from the curb to the high school a few miles away. Cindy glanced at Huey, his mind elsewhere as he looked out the window at the blurry houses and trees that whizzed by. While she stared at his large afro, which created a big physical difference between Huey and Riley because otherwise she couldn't tell them apart, she didn't notice that he turned to look in her direction.

Huey's right eyebrow moved halfway up his forehead. "Cindy, what's wrong?"

She blinked a few times and then looked away, blushing. "Oh, my bad! I thought you had somethin' on yo face, but it was nuttin'."

He did not respond. His head swiveled back over to the window.

Cindy gazed through the large front windshield of the bus at the high school campus three blocks away on the right side of the street. Its multiple buildings and large football stadium made her cringe. She pounded her fist on the nearby arm rest.

"I fuckin' hate da first day of school, man!"

"Why?"

After a long beat, Cindy sighed. "Aight, look, I'mma be real wit'chu, okay? But if you tell Reezy what I'm gone' tell you," she pointed at Huey. "Den you betta learn ta sleep wit' one eye open. Got it?"

Cindy took Huey's silence as a yes and closed her eyes. "Evah since fourth grade, I been picked on 'cause bitches be thinkin' I'm a…you know…a…"

The bus squealed and hissed as it stopped at the corner. Huey paused in hesitation, and turned to look at Cindy, who opened her eyes. "A wigger?"

Cindy and Huey did not bother to look at a few other kids their age get on the bus and sit in various seats in the back.

"Yeah! But dey don't know dat I'm one-sixteenth black, so dat technically means I'm black, right?" Cindy asked. She shrugged, looking at Huey for an answer. No response prompted her to continue. "So yeah, dey had ta learn da hard way dat dey betta not call me no white chick or a wigger! If dey did, dey was best ta protect dey neck, or else dey was gone get tortured, muthafucka! Cindy McPhearson ain't nuttin' ta fuck wit!"

Huey and Cindy remained silent while the city bus continued down the newly paved roads paid for by Ed Wuncler Sr., who made sure they named the High School after him.

Huey bent down to pick up his backpack placed between his feet. When he came back up, he found Cindy looking at him, a strain in her smile. "Ay Huey, my bad 'bout earlier. Iono why I still go through dat anxiety shit, 'cause once I got a lil' bigger I could start whoopin' dat ass! But dat feelin' stay comin' back erry year. I don't get it!"

"I presume it could be a form of conditioning that left an imprint in the subconscious part of your mind and reappears whenever presented with the thought of the first day of school. With the proper amount of counseling, advice from a psychologist, and medication if needed, your problem can be resolved."

Cindy laughed, and then smiled. "I'll pretend like I understood what'chu jus said. But yo, since we gotta be in dese classes togetha, right? 'N dey prolly gone gang up on us 'cause we new 'round heah, we mine' as well try ta get along, aight?"

"No harm in that."

"Dayum straight dere ain't none. Cindy's 'bout her bidness, twenty-fo-seven! You betta get it straight!"

Cindy nodded, while Huey shook his head at Cindy's mention of herself in the third person.

Once the bus arrived at their stop minutes away from the campus, Cindy and Huey remained in their seats while the other students departed through the aisle. Cindy smiled a little when Huey let her go before him. After Cindy stepped off the bus, she waited outside and observed Huey glaring at Uncle Ruckus during his walk past him. Once Huey got off the bus, Cindy tagged along. Cindy liked to go off to places on her own, but at a new school where Huey, Jazmine and Riley transferred, she needed to be around as many familiar faces as possible.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Cindy and Huey waited in line for several minutes in the quad to receive their schedules at various enrollment windows according to last name. After Cindy received hers, she stopped in the middle of the quad between the various tables spread around the grounds. The other students that walked around her like lemmings didn't take her out of her focus. She looked at the small brown and gold piece of paper which listed the information of all her classes.

Cindy growled and shoved the folded up paper in her pocket. "What da fuck? How dey gone give me Calculus, AP World History, AP Psychology, Spanish IV, AP English and AP Biology? Plus I got basketball ta worry 'bout? 'Dis some bullshit, man!"

"It looks like we have the same classes."

Cindy glanced over her shoulder to find a taller Huey by her side. She jumped and gasped, then frowned, lips pooched out.

She hit him on the shoulder. "Dayum! Tell a sista you nearby first before you jus roll up on me like dat!"

Huey kept a straight face as Cindy continued to spew other complaints into his ear. Cindy stopped once she spotted a figure with a pink shirt and blue jeans approaching them out of the corner of her eye. Cindy knew right away who it was from the girl's large, pink bag slung over her shoulder.

"Jazzy?"

Cindy groaned once the mulatto girl ran up to her and wrapped an arm around her neck. Jazmine put her other arm around Huey and placed herself between her two friends. Huey did his best not to show any emotion, while Cindy's face crinkled up into a look of disgust. Jazmine stood on her tip-toes of her pink Chuck Taylors to be an even height with the two juniors of Ed Wuncler Sr. High School.

"Hi Cindy, hi Huey! I missed you guys so much during the summer! But why are you guys here together, and so early?"

Cindy said through clamped teeth, "Huey 'n me got put in da special placement program, rememba?"

"Oh…"

Cindy huffed and puffed once Jazmine released her hold, while Huey took a moment to rub the back of his neck.

"Jazmine, why are you here so early?" Huey asked.

Jazmine laughed, and then gave him a giant beam. "I have to be here early since I'm a writer and editor of the newspaper staff, and then I have cheerleading practice and then after that-"

The loud, long beep from the school bell echoed throughout the quad. Once it ceased, Cindy turned to Huey, who nodded.

"Sorry, but we gotta go. We'll be late for zero period," Huey said.

Cindy grinned and winked. "Yeah girl, we can't stay, we gotta bounce! Holla!"

Jazmine pouted. "But what about-"

"We'll talk later at lunch time, jus me 'n you, aight?"

Cindy gave a saddened Jazmine a quick hug, then trailed Huey to the A building. Cindy looked over her shoulder at Jazmine, busy waving at her and Huey.

"Bye Huey! Bye Cindy!"

* * *

Jazmine waited until Cindy and Huey entered the double doors of the A building across the quad before she turned and frowned. She growled and kicked a nearby soda can. It ricocheted off the trash can a few yards away, spun around in a wobbly circle like a football and then fell down.

A tear fell down her cheek while she walked to the B building next to the A building. "I wish I was in Cindy's place, so I could be with Huey. My schedule is completely different from his. I miss him so much."

Before she opened the door of the B building, Jazmine's frown morphed into a smile.

"Don't worry, Huey. You'll see more of me. I promise."

...


	2. Chapter 2

**More Than Friends  
**

By** DaveTheWordsmith**

**Disclaimer: **Boondocks is owned by Sony Pictures Digital Inc. and Aaron McGruder. All the copyrights associated with Boondocks belong to them. Only the ideas contained within this story are the property of the author. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.

* * *

**Note:** I want to really thank everyone who read and reviewed the first chapter of this fic. It's not everyday someone writes a Cindy/Huey fic, so I absolutely appreciate the feedback. Also, please read and review _**Ten Yards to Victory: The Pigskin Ball, What's Mine is Mine **_and**_ Fate's Destined End_ **by** IceLegatus**, _**switched sides **_and_** the other guy**_ by **KODfreak** and **_rumors,_** _**Jazmine's boys**_ and**_ not your type_ **by** JazzyMao**. They are very great fics and should be read and reviewed by everybody ASAP.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

"Cindy? Cindy!"

Her blue eyes twitched, her eyelids held in place by the top of her arm. She lifted her head from her thick, opened Calculus book, her body wobbly from the grogginess her nap placed upon her. Cindy looked around to find the other students looking at her, including Huey who sat a seat in front of her. The teacher Mr. Kelly walked up to Cindy from his front desk.

"If I catch you sleeping in class one more time, you'll get a yellow slip, understand?"

Cindy's mouth opened wide in a big yawn while she stretched her arms. "Yeah. My bad, teach," she said, opening her black binder to the AP Calculus section. She caught Huey take one last look at her before he returned his attention to Mr. Kelly who returned to the whiteboard, full of mathematics equations.

"So if the limit, as x approaches three from the left equals five, the limit as x approaches three from the right equals five and the function f(3) equals five, is the function continuous or not continuous?" he said. His eyes moved to Cindy, her head lowering back down to her book. "Cindy. Cindy!"

Cindy's head snapped back up straight, her eyes opened wide. "Yeah?"

He pointed at the two equations of the piecewise function in red marker on the board. "Is this function continuous or not continuous? And why?"

"Lemme see," Cindy said. Her eyes narrow, she leaned forward in her desk. "I'mma have ta say…yeah."

Mr. Kelly waited for the second part of the answer. When Cindy kept her mouth closed, he nodded. "Correct. Now why is it continuous?"

"…'Cause dey all equal da same answer," she said. "Dat's da only way dat statement can be true, if dey all equal each otha, rite?"

"That's correct."

Cindy inhaled and let out a large breath of relief. The bell rang and everyone started to pack up and leave.

Above the numerous students talking and moving around, Mr. Kelly said, "Prepare for your first quiz tomorrow!"

After Huey gathered his notebook and pencils and shoved them into his backpack, he looked at Cindy. His eyebrows jumped once she caught him staring beyond the normal time considered normal. She put her backpack in her lap.

"What?" Cindy asked. She received no answer, much to her chagrin. She followed Huey out of the classroom, curious to why Huey left with no words spoken.

After a long quiet moment, Huey said with genuine concern, "You look like you didn't get enough sleep. You barely said anything during class."

They entered the crowded hallway and departed the building through the squeaky double doors. The warm wind blew on them, across their necks.

"True dat, but I'll be straight. A lil' missed sleep ain't gone mess me up," she said. She yawned once more and then smacked her lips.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be aight. Plus, it's snack time so I'll be straight afta I get some grub."

Huey and Cindy walked across the crowded quad, past multiple food carts in the middle of the campus and sat down at one of the empty, large round tables. Through the multitude of teenagers that moved across campus, Cindy picked out two large, orange afro puffs that bounced up and down between two larger kids around them.

"I thought I told dat girl ta wait til lunch, but naw. She jus has ta meet up wit me now."

Huey shook his head. "I thought you knew Jazmine better than that."

Cindy smiled. She kept her eye on the orange hair in the distance. "Very funny, mista smartass."

Huey looked at Cindy, one eyebrow raised. "You sure you all right?"

"For da last time, I'm fine!" She said. She jabbed her finger in his chest. "Okay?"

"Fine. But you know lying won't make what's going on with you any better."

"You jus don't give up, do you?" Cindy said. She sighed. "Aight, mine as well tell you da real before you find out anyway. Da truth is, I ain't been sleepin dat much 'cause…for da past few days, I been-"

"Cindy!" Before Cindy could brace herself for the unexpected impact, she moaned at the tight embrace from Jazmine's hug. Speechless, Huey moved over so Jazmine could sit between him and Cindy.

With furrowed eyebrows and wide open eyes, Cindy patted her light skinned friend's back. "Dayum, Jazzy! You actin' like you ain't seen me in years or somethin'!"

"Sorry," Jazmine said. She let go and pulled away from Cindy. Before Jazmine could catch Cindy, she managed to fix her mouth in a fake grin. "I just haven't seen you in months. Summer Camp was a lot of fun but I missed you; you too, Huey!"

Huey remained unmoved from Jazmine's hug. He looked at Cindy with an 'I know what you mean' twinkle in his eyes until Jazmine released him from her emotional hold. Cindy turned her head to hide her obvious, uncontrollable laughter. She continued to chuckle until she felt the low, tingly rumbles from her stomach. She glanced down at her stomach.

"Aight stomach, I'mma feed ya. You don't think I don't wanna eat rite now? Jus chill, aight?" Cindy said. Her head lifted to look at Huey and Jazmine. "Look y'all, I'mma get me some chips or somethin. Y'all want some?"

Huey shook his head 'no'. "No thanks," he said.

Jazmine said through giggles from observing Cindy's discussion with her stomach, "No thank you, Cindy."

"Aight," Cindy said.

Jazmine waited until Cindy walked away, out of earshot, to speak to Huey. "So what are you up to this weekend?"

"I'll probably be up to my eyeballs with chores. Most of them will really be Riley's. He always finds a way out of not doing them."

"Well, maybe when you're done, we can go to the hill," Jazmine said. Her hand started to move closer to Huey's that rested on the table bench by his side. "Just catch up on the stuff we missed out on and-"

During loud, crunchy chews of her Doritos, Cindy said, "Back, y'all!"

Jazmine put both of her hands behind her back. She cursed under her breath before Cindy plopped down between her and Huey. Cindy threw her hand back into her small Flaming Hot Doritos, grabbed a handful and threw them into her mouth.

Cindy cut through the unusual silence. "I miss anything?"

Jazmine looked at Huey and then Cindy. She said in a low whisper, "Nothing you need to know."

Still talking while eating, Cindy asked, "What'chu say, Jaz?"

"Nothing," Jazmine said. She smiled. "So how were your first four periods?"

"Shitty. Dey took a while ta get used to," Cindy said. She smiled. "'Cause dey felt like stomach aches 'n den I realized dat I was really bleedin-"

Jazmine grunted. "Cindy! I meant class periods."

Cindy laughed. "Dayum, I'm jus playin, girl! I wasn't completely lyin 'doe. Dey was shitty as hell, like school always is. I couldn't stay awake in most of 'em 'cause da teachers was so boring. How about you?"

"Great! All of my teachers were so nice. They didn't give out any homework!"

Cindy huffed through her nose, her arms folded over her chest. She smirked at Jazmine. "Lucky ass. We got homework in every class."

Jazmine's face grew long, her lips curved down. "That's not good," she said. Her smile returned. "What about you Huey?"

Huey lowered his copy of the book The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene he buried his nose in and shrugged. "Okay, I guess. The teachers could be better," he said. His eyes went back to his book.

Cindy laughed, shaking her head. "Huey, you know dat ain't true. You got yoself into some deep shit in History class," she said. "You kept talkin bout how if it wasn't for dem African niggas, I think dey was da Moors – or whoeva you was talkin bout – dat dem European crackas wouldn't be as advanced in da arts 'n math 'n shit, 'n da teacher got so mad 'cause you kept goin' on 'n on, dat he gave you detention."

Huey spoke after Jazmine gasped. "I only spoke the truth. You know those teachers and those textbooks won't say anything about it."

Jazmine rolled her eyes. "You shouldn't do that, Huey. You know you'll only get in trouble."

Cindy glared at Jazmine. "He ain't gotta be scared of dem teachas. You should be able to speak you mind wheneva you want, ain't dat rite?" Cindy asked. She jabbed Huey in his side with her elbow, laughing.

The bell emitted its long beep for three seconds before it finally stopped. Everybody got up from their seats, unwilling to truly leave.

She pouted, hands on her hips. "Aww! We just got started to catch up on things!"

Cindy put her hand on Jazmine's shoulder. "We can still talk at lunchtime, rememba?"

Jazmine nodded. "Right," she said. After Huey and Cindy walked off, Jazmine directed her "evil" stare at her girl friend. "Only after I get to talk to Huey. Alone."

* * *

Students' loud laughter and chattering overwhelmed the Ed Wuncler Sr. High cafeteria. A majority of the teenagers gathered at tables spread around the plain white and black checkered area, while some stood in line to fill their trays with processed food and beverages. Tray in hand, Cindy let out a long breath full of uneasiness at the sight of the nasty, yellow-orange macaroni and cheese in its large tray on the other side of the bar. She turned away, face scrunched up. She swore she saw it bubbling.

"I say cot dayum! Now I see why last year a couple of niggas was sick fa days. Look at dis food!"

Cindy decided to take some fried chicken and mashed potatoes with gravy that looked the most appealing out of the rest of the food on the menu, which did not mean much. Meanwhile, Huey who waited in line before Cindy passed by each food station until he reached the salad area two spots down. He grabbed the metal tongs beside the leafy vegetables and placed some on his black tray.

Huey eyed Cindy while he splashed some lemon dressing and croutons on his salad. "Consider yourself lucky. You could've eaten it and ended up sick for the next couple of weeks."

Cindy groaned while she massaged her stomach. "Man, I'd ratha' be sick 'den ova heah lookin' at dis shit dey tryin' ta pass as food."

The middle-aged, white haired lady at the register gave a façade smile. "That'll be two fifty."

Huey approached the lady and handed her his lunch money. "You ought to come out with me and Caesar after school for the cafeteria strike."

Cindy waited until the cash register finished its obnoxious buzzing noises. "Nah, I'll pass. Any food is betta' den no food at all. Man, Reezy woulda loved ta eat da meatloaf," she said. She was surprised Riley skipped lunch period. He usually popped up for lunch and then leave to do whatever he pleased. The idea of hanging out with Ed and Rummy must have been higher on his 'to do list' than cafeteria food.

Huey groaned at the words 'meatloaf'. "Suit yourself. Don't blame me for trying to warn you ahead of time," Huey said.

He left the line and looked at his usual table for Caesar and/or Jazmine. He finally spotted Jazmine at a table at the other side of the cafeteria. Huey did not react to Jazmine's wide grin and her energetic waves directed at him as he stood to the side next to Cindy.

The lady at the register took a moment to punch in a few numbers before the register's bell dinged. "That'll be three fifty," she said.

"Awight."

Cindy placed the tray down in front of her on the table while she dug into her pocket. She cursed once she felt nothing and switched to her right pocket. She grinned once she felt large coins and a few bills and handed them to the lady. Huey's eyebrow flew up at the sight of Cindy's solemn face.

Cindy bit her lip. "Damn, I'm a dolla short."

Huey looked at Cindy, occupied with looking at the floor, then at the cashier. "I got it."

Huey grabbed his money clip, slid a dollar out and gave it to the lady. The lady nodded and allowed them to leave the line.

Cindy grabbed her food and followed Huey to where Jazmine sat, busy eating her sack lunch. "Yo, I owe you fa dat," she said. "Look, I'll pay you back tomorrow. Mah word is bond."

"Don't worry about it."

Jazmine squealed with delight once Huey sat next to on the bench of the long, red, rectangular table. Her smile faded once her eyes lay on Cindy, who sat next to Huey.

Cindy couldn't keep her eyes off of Huey's giant pile of salad covered with see-through salad dressing. "Dayum, Huey. You gone eat all dat salad yo'self?"

"I skipped breakfast," Huey said. "And I'm making up for it."

Jazmine said before she chomped on her taco snack, "Awww Huey. You should know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You shouldn't skip it. That's why it's called breakfast. It 'breaks' your 'fast' that you had during the night when you're asleep."

Cindy swallowed a piece of the chicken wing she held in her hands. "C'mon, Jazzy," she said. She took another bite before she finished her words. "You ain't gotta go all public service announcement mode on him. If he wanna skip eatin' breakfast 'n even lunch 'n dinnah, let him."

Jazmine's eyes became thin. "Cindy, I was only trying to give him some advice."

Cindy poked her lips out. "Well stop doin' it so much. Jus let da nigga breeve 'n stop bein a tight ass, Jazzy."

Jazmine stood up. "So are you saying that I'm a tight ass?"

Cindy did the same. "No. You not only a tight ass, you gettin' real annoying rite now!"

"What?"

"You heard me!"

"I'll show you who's a tight ass!"

Huey slammed his fist on the table. Jazmine and Huey stopped at the loud pound Huey made with his fist and looked at him. Huey glared at the two girls who sat back down. "C'mon you two! Let's just finish the rest of our lunch in peace. You can finish your arguing later."

Before Jazmine could utter a word, two, tall figures approached their table, mean mugs on their faces.

The taller, blond haired boy leaned in Cindy's face. "Didn't think we'd make good on our word, did you?"

Cindy put her hand on his face and pushed him back. "Whateva, Jeff. Why don't you guys jus go 'n eat a dick up til ya hiccup," Cindy said. She blew air between her pursed lips and waved her hand in his direction.

A slightly shorter, portly boy with long, black hair stood behind Cindy. "No, we're talkin' to you right now. Don't think we're just talkin' out of our asses. You still owe us a payment for last week."

He sat next to Cindy, pushing Jazmine out of the way. Jazmine screamed while she stumbled and fell face first on the floor. She got up and frowned at the two boys, her hands on her hips. "Hey, you – you - doodyheads!"

Huey looked on with narrow eyes as he ran over to his longtime friend. He stuck his arm out to block Jazmine from getting in anyone's way. "Jazmine," he said. "Stay out of this. Whatever this is about, Cindy can handle it."

Cindy turned her head as she stuffed her mouth with a spoonful of food. She said between bites of her potatoes, "I got'chu, Danny, awight? I'll make good on mah' word next week, I promise. Now get da steppin."

"No, Cindy! We want our money, now!" Danny grabbed Cindy's food and threw it to the side.

"Yeah, Cindy McPhearson!" Jeff said. He placed his face a few inches away from Cindy's. "I mean, McNiggerson!"

Cindy huffed and puffed, her face turning red. "What 'da fuck you say? What'chu say mah' name was?"

"You heard me, you nigger loving wigger bitch!"

Cindy snarled. Her blue eyes blew open wide. "Fuck you, you faggot ass cracka!"

Cindy reached over to her left, grabbed Jazmine's tray with her slightly full milk carton in the middle, and smacked Jeff over the side of the head. As he rolled on the ground, holding his temples, she lifted her foot, ready to stomp him in the stomach.

"Cindy!" Jazmine said. She couldn't keep the tears back any longer. A few streamed down her cheeks. "No!"

Amidst the growing crowd of students around Cindy and Jeff, Jazmine ran in front of Cindy and pushed her in the chest. Cindy stumbled a few steps backward into a few students and then into Danny who reared his arm back and cocked her square in the nose with his fist. Jazmine shrieked and bent down next to Cindy, who laid face down, her eyes closed shut, nose bleeding profusely.

Cindy stammered as she struggled to get up, hands on the table seat. Huey did not hesitate to grab Danny from behind, his hands full of his red shirt, fell safely onto his back and tossed Danny up and over into the air for him to crash down onto the tile floor. Huey sat up in time to block Jeff's gravy covered fist and twisted his wrist. Cindy thought she called out Huey's name. She could only move her mouth. No words came out. She watched as Huey jumped and rammed his knee into Jeff's chest and then sweep kicked him in the shin. Cindy looked on at Huey who stood over the prone and cringing Jeff and Danny. She held herself up with her hands until she lost clarity in her vision and crashed down on the floor.

* * *

Cindy's eyelids fluttered for a few moments, the heat and pain flashing through her nerves. Her eyes slowly opened to adjust to the bright light that hit her small pupils. She cringed and brought a sore hand up to her forehead. The place looked very familiar, a little too familiar. Cindy felt something under her that felt like a couch cushion and sat up to prove she was right. On the far opposite end of the couch, she could see Huey, his eyes closed and his head in the inside of his bent elbow propped on the arm rest. Cindy extended her left arm to help herself out of the couch, but fell back with a sharp intake of air, her jaws tight.

She rubbed her nose with her good right arm and stopped over what she felt to be a band-aid. "Fuck!" she said. "I can't believe I let dat cracka get me wit dat sucka punch. At least I got a few good shots in."

"It wasn't worth it. All of us involved in the fight have a week's worth of detention."

Cindy held onto her nose while she turned to look at a wide-awake Huey. He sat up straight and started to rub his fist. "Aw man, stop worryin' about it. Detention ain't shit."

"To me, it is."

"Whatever," she said. Her eyes moved around to take in the Freeman household's living room. "How'd I get here?"

"You were in the nurse's office, unconscious, until school let out. When I told Granddad what happened, he said he'd give us a ride home."

Cindy sank lower in her seat, pouting. "I owe y'all again."

Huey shook his head a few times. "Forget about it. I guess you can stay here 'til after dinner."

Granddad walked into the living room and placed himself in his recliner next to the couch. "Hey cutie pie! Glad to see you awake!" he said. "You're welcome to stay 'til dinner. Then I can drop ya back off at your house."

Cindy's eyes closed; the prelude to a few tears that settled in her eyes. She brushed a finger underneath them to wipe the tears away. "Thanks."

Granddad sat up in his chair. "You all right, cutie pie?"

Cindy opened her eyes, rubbed her nose, and then pinched it with her thumb and forefinger. "I'm cool."

The three sat quietly in the living room until the timer in the kitchen dinged with a typical pitched bell sound. Granddad took his time to get out of his seat. "Oh! That's the Buffalo wings I've got in the oven. I'll be right back," he said with a smile.

Huey and Cindy stayed in their respective seats while Granddad departed to enter the kitchen. Cindy picked at imaginary lint on her thigh until Huey scooted over closer to her.

"Cindy?"

"Yeah?"

"Earlier today, before Jazmine interrupted you, what was it you were gonna say?"

Cindy looked into Huey's eyes, hungry for the truth. She released a big breath full of anxiety. She said before she started to cry, "I'mma keep it one hunnid wit'chu, aight Huey? Da reason why I ain't been able ta sleep or even eat dat much is…since Sunday, I been…I been homeless."

...


	3. Chapter 3

**More Than Friends  
**

By** DaveTheWordsmith**

**Disclaimer: **Boondocks is owned by Sony Pictures Digital Inc. and Aaron McGruder. All the copyrights associated with Boondocks belong to them. Only the ideas contained within this story are the property of the author. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.

* * *

**Note: **I can't thank everyone who read and reviewed my fic enough. Seriously. I'm very thankful that I got them. I really appreciate the feedback and appreciate those who are reading this fic, it being a Cindy/Huey unlikely couple fic and all. Please, please, and please read and review _**Ten Yards to Victory: The Pigskin Ball, What's Mine is Mine **_and**_ Fate's Destined End_ **by** IceLegatus**, _**switched sides **_and_** the other guy**_ by **KODfreak** and **_rumors,_** _**Jazmine's boys**_, _**Cindy's boys**_ when it comes out and**_ not your type_ **by** JazzyMao**. They are very great fics and should be read and reviewed by everybody ASAP.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Three**

Huey leaned back in his seat, his face straight with no emotion shown. "What?"

Cindy turned her head to hide her face. "You heard me, Huey," she said. A few tears dripped down her cheek and off her chin into her lap. "I been homeless for da past few days. I been squattin' at mah homegirl's spot for a while 'til I patch thangs up with mah mama."

Cindy felt her red, glowered eyes lock onto the young 'retired' domestic terrorist who sat up, his full attention on the female 'gangsta'.

Huey's mouth remained open as he said, "Who knows about this?"

Cindy sniffed some mucus back into her reddened nose. "Rite now, jus you. Don't tell Mr. Freeman 'bout dis. At least fa rite now."

Huey waved around like a big blur through Cindy's tears. She flopped back in her seat in embarrassment. The thought of Huey as a witness to the two times she cried, something she rarely exhibited in front of anyone, overpowered her mind. Cindy looked up at the firm hand on her shoulder. She winced with a soft grunt and shrugged it off.

"Ay Cindy, you aight?"

After a swipe of her hand across her eyes, she spotted Riley, his usual smile replaced by a poked out lip and enlarged, sparkling eyes. He threw himself into the couch next to Cindy.

Cindy's raised eyebrows fell and slanted downward in anger. "Where you been, Reezy? I was hopin' you'd have a sista's back at lunchtime."

Riley sucked on his bottom lip. "Oh, didn't I tell you dis moe'nin'? I skipped ta go chill at Ed's crib 'n see 'bout gettin' a hook-up on some thangs."

Cindy watched his hand move over to her chin, his face lean in closer to her's. She slapped his hand away. Her head moved from side to side to signify 'nuh-uh'.

"You ain't tell me a damn thang," Cindy said. She scooted away from Riley to place herself by the armrest. "And why you still doin' dat shit? I thought you said you was gone' move on ta somethin' else. Somethin' legal?"

Riley scratched his chin, which only allowed a few thin hairs to produce the beginning of a goatee. "C'mon, C-Murph, you know I gots'ta make mah money somehow while I'm still in gay ass high school. Ain't no way I'mma get me da bread ta get da shit I want til' afta I graduate, 'n Ed's always got mah back. We gone' be all right. We's ride or die niggas fa life."

Cindy glared at Riley. She could see Huey out of the corner of her eye, sitting quietly, reading his Final Call newspaper spread out before him. "Mmm hmm. Stop lyin ta me, Reezy. You ain't gotta lie ta me. You know you 'n Ed still slangin'. Still hustlin'. Jus tell me da truth."

Riley contracted his brow and snarled. "I'm tellin' da truth, Cindy! Why you don't believe me?"

Cindy held up her index finger. "Cuz fa one, you barely at school no mo'," she said. Her middle finger joined her index finger. "Two, I saw you yesterday, settin' up on da coe'na, still doin' dat same ole' tired dumb shit."

Riley remained silent, though his scowl stayed on his face. He shook his head and chuckled. "Dayum. You only been in dat program one day 'n you already actin' like a smarty art broad."

Cindy stared Riley down. Her hand which formed into a tight fist started to rise until Granddad yelled from the dining room, "Boys! Cutie pie! Dinner's ready! Come 'n get it buh'foe I eat it all!"

Under her breath, Cindy said as she got up from her seat, "You lucky you got saved by Mr. Freeman, Reezy."

"Ay Huey. What's Cindy's problem? She get hit real hard in da head or somethin? She ackin' all strange," she heard Riley ask a soundless Huey. Cindy decided to ignore Riley's remark and continue her path to the dining table. She almost fainted at the sight her eyes took in before her on the table.

Cindy's giant smile consumed the bottom half of her face. "Aw sheit, Mr. Freeman!" she said. "Buffalo wings, fried chicken, French fries, dirty rice, biscuits, potato salad, greens 'n stuffing! You'd think it's Thanksgiving up in heah!"

Granddad tossed a bare chicken bone on his plate. He waited until he finished chomping the buffalo wing meat in his mouth before he spoke. "Oh, thank nothin' of it. We also got sweet potato pie and chocolate cake fa dessert. Jus make sure you don't be gettin' da itis! And put some of this bar-buh-que sauce on yo' fried chicken. It'll make it taste so good, make you wanna slap yo mama!"

Cindy took a seat across the table from Granddad. "Thank you so much for dinner, Mr. Freeman."

"Anytime, baby girl."

Huey and Riley ran into the dining room and leaped into their seats between a starving Cindy who immediately ended her hunger. She shoved a handful of fries into her mouth.

Riley grimaced, his hands up. "Dayum, Cindy! Save some fa us! Jus cuz you ain't ate all day don't mean you gotta take erry'body's food portions!"

Huey glared at Riley, who continued to stare at Cindy. He slapped Riley upside the back of the head.

"Ow! What da hell, Huey?"

Riley scowled at Huey before he filled his plate up with food. Huey took his time to take some potato salad, biscuits and stuffing.

After ten minutes of silence due to the consumption of their dinner, Huey nudged Riley. "Ask Granddad."

Riley rubbed the back of his cornrow-covered head. "Aight, fine, dayum," he said. "Granddad? Uh, Cindy's parents is gone on vacation, so we was wonderin' if she could stay ovah heah 'til dey get back."

Granddad swallowed his large chunk of sweet potato pie. He said after a few more chews, "Sounds fine to me. She can stay in the guest room."

Huey cleared his throat. "Problem," he said. "Remember what you used the guest room for last night, with Sheryl?"

Granddad blushed. He beamed, scratching the back of his head. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that fine pretty young thang. That room'll take a while to fix back up," he said. His smile vanished to make room for a serious face. "Well, since the guest room is out of the question, you boys gonna have ta sleep on the two couches out in the living room."

Riley frowned and slammed his hand on the table. "Awwwwwww, c'mon Granddad! We ain't like dat! We can all share da same room!"

Granddad turned the other cheek. "Nope. Nuh-uh. Noooooooooo way. You ain't gone' change mah mind. After I caught you with that other girl a few months ago, you betta not be askin' me if a girl can stay in your room."

"So it's like dat, Granddad?"

"Forget it, Riley," Huey said.

"Man, 'dis some ole' buuuuuuuuuuuullshit."

Granddad noticed Cindy, still focused on her plate as she shoveled more and more food in her mouth. "How's the food, cutie pie?" he asked.

Cindy nodded and threw up the 'Okay' sign. With her mouth still full, she said, "Dis is off da hook, Mr. Freeman. We never ate like this at our crib."

Granddad smiled. "Good. So you fine with sleepin' in Huey and Riley's room?"

"Oh it's cool," she said. "I been in dere room before so it ain't nuttin' new."

When Granddad did not give a reply, she looked up to see Granddad eye her with a confused stare. Cindy giggled nervously, blushing. "Uh…you know what I mean, Mr. Freeman. Back in da days when we was younger, I used ta always chill with Riley in their room."

Granddad nodded. "Oh yeah, that's right," he said. When Cindy looked away, he released a quiet sigh while he wiped his forehead. He whispered, "Ole' cutie pie almost gave me a stroke."

* * *

Under the covers of Huey's bed, the young blonde girl turned onto her left side, her head nestled in the deep crevice the domestic terrorist's head formed in the pillow. The moon illuminated the room enough for Cindy to see in the dark. She laughed at the question that popped into her head. Why did she choose Huey's bed over Riley's? She tried to rationalize the thought that Huey's bed allowed more room for her to sleep. Riley's bed, a queen size bed, did not appear completely smaller than Huey's king sized bed, more fit for his larger body frame. Then she frowned, the real reason for why she chose Huey's bed over Riley's echoing over and over in her head. She didn't know how many other girls, or bitches as he called them, have shared that bed, for what? Thirty minutes? Twenty? An hour? More like five, ten if he was lucky, she thought.

Cindy jumped at a few, low knocks at the door. The yellowish light from the hallway crept into the room along the floor and the walls as the door cracked open. Granddad's face peered into the room, his eyes halfway closed and a little smile on his face. "You all right, cutie pie?"

Cindy sat up and turned to look at the older man. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for checkin' on me."

Granddad nodded. "You have a good night, now," he said. He closed the door before Cindy could give him a reply.

Cindy slipped farther under the covers so they met with her neck. As soon as she found a perfect spot for her whole body, the bedroom door slowly opened.

A voice whispered, "Ay, Cindy? You sleepin'?"

Cindy's lips grew closer together. Her eyebrows slanted downward as she watched the shadowy figure close the door and sneak inside. Her voice cracked a little. "Naw, I was jus starin at da ceiling, countin da BB gun marks you made up in heah," she said. She sat up so the blanket covered her lap. "Of course I was sleepin, Reezy."

She watched the bare-chested fourteen year old boy sit on the side of her bed, facing Cindy. "About earlier, y'know, callin' you a smarty art broad 'n shit, 'n actin' like you was gone eat all da food. Huey told me everythang not too long ago. I shoulda been actin' betta. Dats mah bad. I was trippin'."

Cindy shook her head. "Naw, nigga. You wasn't trippin. You stumbled, fell ovah 'n hit yo rock hard head on da floor, waitin' fa me ta call 911."

Riley sighed. "I know."

Cindy looked down at her fiddling hands in her lap. "I thought we was gonna be da next Bonnie 'n Clyde, Riley. We supposed ta not be arguin' ova dumb shit. We supposed ta be a team."

"Yea, but it seem like…" Riley frowned. "Like you changin', like you ain't down wit me like you used to be."

"Reezy, we growin' up. We not ten and eight no more. We 'bout ta graduate in a few years. Da last thang I wanna worry 'bout is lookin' ova mah shoulder cuz some bitch or some dude wanna take a sista out ova some dumb shit."

"Cindy, dis shit Ed and I are doin, it's legit. We sellin' a gang of iPhones 'n we makin bread!"

Cindy gazed into Riley's eyes that looked as if they begged Cindy to believe her. She bit her lip. "You sure?"

"Yeah. That's why we was out sellin' shit."

"Reezy…"

"Fa real, C-Murph. Does this look like a face of a man who's lyin?" he said. His gaze never left her blue eyes. His face grew long and serious.

Cindy allowed her lips to curve up into a small grin. "Aight, I believe you, dis time. Jus don't be lyin no more."

"Hey," Riley stood up and brought his arms around Cindy, holding her tight. "If I'm lyin, I'm flyin."

* * *

"Let's go to the hill later," Jazmine DuBois said through her pouting. She looked up to her right at the slightly taller Huey Freeman, his full attention in _The Tipping Point_ by Malcolm Gladwell book before his face as they walked out the front gate of school. "Huey?"

Huey lowered his book to see Jazmine, holding onto his arm. "Huh?"

Jazmine puffed her cheeks and released the air just as quickly. She closed her eyes. Five, four, three, two, one, she thought. "Nothing. Forget it."

Huey took his backpack off to put his book inside and then put the backpack on one shoulder. "No," Huey stepped to the side to get into Jazmine's way. "What's wrong?"

Jazmine looked away at the grassy hill top behind Huey where a few students gathered to talk. "Nothing, okay?" she said. Her hands formed into fists.

She tried her best to move beside Huey, but he kept himself one step ahead of her no matter which way she went.

"Huey!"

Huey's head slowly moved left, then right. "No. Tell me."

"All right. Fine," Jazmine's hands relaxed. "It's just, we haven't had any time to talk, you know, about stuff that happened during the summer while I was gone. Stuff like that."

Jazmine watched Huey's blank stare and silence tell everything she needed to know. She sighed. "I guess you don't care. I really missed you."

As Jazmine spun around, her back toward him, Huey rolled his eyes. He knew they would arrive. The tears: the only thing to break through his iron will, hard on the outside, soft and raw in the inside. He became the spectator of Jazmine's cries, her body shivering with each quick burst of emotion that took over.

_I'm going to hate myself in the morning_, Huey thought. He reached around Jazmine's shoulders to allow her to turn around. She rammed her face into his chest, unable to stop from crying.

"Fine," Huey said. "Let's go."

* * *

"These iPhones is gonna sell like hotcakes," Ed said with a smile. He held one up in his gloved hand, rotating it around in his hand while his other hand gripped the steering wheel. The numerous boxes in the trunk rattled with the bumps on the road they ran over. "Them bitches still goin crazy over 'em."

"Yeah, you said it. Hot cakes," Rummy said. He sat in the passenger side of their all-black Escalade that sped down the highway in the fast lane. "Steve Jobs, you got me convinced, at least 'til you make them phones able to make a simple fuckin' phone call."

"Mmm hmmm. Yeah, keep talkin' dirty like that. I love it when you do dat. You makin me hard than a muthafucka."

Rummy palmed his forehead while shaking his head. He spotted the Bluetooth in Ed's ear. "Ed…"

"I like it when you put one of dem iPhones in yo mouth 'n start suckin' on it. You prolly like 'em wit whipped cream, huh?"

"Damnit Ed!"

Ed looked at his friend who stared at him like he belonged in Shady Acres. "Da fuck you lookin' at?"

Rummy scratched the top of his head. "You know how much I hate those things, makin' it look like you talkin' to yourself or the person you're with. Damn nigga technology."

Riley, in the backseat, jumped between Ed and Rummy and balanced his arms on the two front seats. "See, I told y'all dis could work. We ain't gotta jus be gettin at banks 'n shit no mo."

Rummy turned his head to look at Riley. "Yeah, but you know it ain't gone last. Those Android phones are catchin' up. Eventually we gonna have ta find something more lucrative."

"That's why we always got our backup plan," Ed said. He smiled.

"Just don't fuck it up this time. You know how yo grandpops don't like us always askin fa shit as much anymore."

"Don't worry, he won't care. We jus ask him fa more shit, he'll give it to us. I'mma be da President soon, he betta be treatin' me right."

"You still got some supply, Riley?" Rummy asked.

Riley sighed. The thought of Cindy popped into his head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vile with 'white powder'. "Yea, I got it."

"Jus be careful with it. Don't want you or any of us gettin' caught," Rummy said, to which Riley shrugged his shoulders.

"Aight."

"I told y'all, if shit goes down, mah' granddaddy can get us out of it," Ed said. He pulled out his iPhone and pulled up the maps application. "Ay, we almost at the spot we gonna be sellin' at, so get ready."

"Got'cha," Rummy said. "Everyone got they heat?"

"Man, you know I always got mines," Ed said.

"Yeah, I do," Riley said. He felt the HK USP .45, safety on, under his shirt tucked in his pants. He put his vile away in his pocket and then threw himself into the back seat. He let loose the biggest sigh he had ever done. Should he back out, or continue? He thought these things on the way to Baltimore that Friday afternoon, worried about what was yet to come.

* * *

Jazmine stood under the tree, arms folded over her chest. The whistling wind blew her orange hair and the bottom of her black jacket away from her body. "It feels like forever since we've been up here."

Huey sat under the tree, his head up as he looked at the overcast sky, black and gray blotches of clouds intermingled with the silver and white ones. His back rested against the rugged trunk. "It has been a while."

Jazmine's Chuck Taylors crunched in the grass with each step she made toward Huey. She allowed gravity to take her down in front of him. Sitting Indian style, she put her chin in the palm of her right hand. "So…tell me. How was your summer?"

"Bad, almost the same as last year. Granddad made us do all the hard work around the house, which really meant I had to. Granddad was hospitalized for a while from so much stress. He had to get Riley out of jail a few times for a few stick-ups. The second time Riley was shot a few times in his chest. Luckily they missed any major organs, but he stayed in the hospital for a while. Wuncler Sr. with Ed's help had to give Granddad the money to pay to get Riley out of jail and for his hospital bills. Me, I led a few marches and protests in memory of Oscar Grant, Amadou Diallo, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Sean Bell, the Jena 6, and a few others. Caesar helped out with those and they went well, except for one where police had to make us leave. I changed from being vegetarian to being pescatarian, then back to vegetarian. I guess that's it."

Jazmine stopped smiling at the words 'guess that's it'. "That's it?"

"Yeah."

Jazmine sighed. "What about Cindy?"

The back of Huey's head hit the tree. He rubbed it while he asked, "What about her?"

"She won't tell me anything. I'm sure you saw her a few times. How's she doing?"

Huey watched Jazmine's curious eyes anticipate Huey's mouth to open and begin to tell the truth. Should he tell the truth? How would Jazmine handle the problems Cindy has been through? Would Jazmine be able to keep the truth a secret? Huey thought these things over during the silence Jazmine would probably feel uncomfortable to endure.

"She's fine. She just has to get used to the new workload. If she really applied herself to her studies she could be a great student."

"Oh."

"I think that's why she's been so upset lately."

Jazmine frowned. "She called me a tight ass. Am I a tight ass, Huey?"

"Sup, y'all!" Cindy breathed heavily as she jogged up the side of the hill. Once she made it to the top where Jazmine and Huey sat, she dropped her backpack and plopped down on her butt, legs stretched out. She said inbetween gasps for air, "I miss anything?"

Jazmine grumbled very low, "A perfect opportunity to hook-up with Huey."

"What'chu say, Jazzy?"

Jazmine feigned a smile. "Oh, I said, nothing much. We were just catching up on things that happened this summer."

Huey glared at Jazmine while the two girls talked for a few moments. Something didn't seem all together between the two.

"Wait a minute, Cindy. How did you find out about this place?" Jazmine asked.

Cindy rubbed her band-aid covered nose. "Huey told me 'bout it. We was supposed ta meet here 'n study 'n do our math homework cuz da library is packed."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, our teacha put us in groups of two. We betta get started soon Huey. The Patriots/Giants game is finna be on soon. I can't miss dat."

While Cindy and Huey pulled out their thick, heavy textbooks, Jazmine stood up, a scowl on her face. "Talk to you later, Huey," she glared at her blonde 'companion'. "Cindy."

After Jazmine disappeared from view, Cindy leaned in a little and whispered, "What's with her?"

Huey shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know. She's acted like that since she came back from summer camp."

"Maybe bein' ova in Cali with her mama's folks made her all uppity 'n shit. Dey always actin' like dey know all da stars 'n shit."

"Who knows."

"All I know is, you gotta explain some of dem equations to me. I get some of 'em, but I can't keep track of 'em all," Cindy said. She could feel Huey's hand that lingered longer than usual as she transferred the Calculus book over to him, and tried to hide her blushing face. _For some reason, it feels like I'm with Reezy_, she thought.

"Cindy?"

"Yea?"

"You can let go now."

Cindy jerked her hand away with a fake smile. "Yea…right…"

After a half an hour of working on Calculus problems, Cindy moved the Calculus book between them closer to turn to the back of the book. She found the answers from the specific chapter they worked on and copied them down.

Cindy smiled. "Awwww shit, I got dese ones right."

Huey nodded. "See, I told you. Even a little bit of practice goes a long way."

Cindy scribbled a few more notes down in her notebook spread across her lap. Her blue mechanical pencil slipped out of her hand and rolled off her paper in the small gap between her and Huey. She reached for it without looking, expecting to feel a long, small plastic object. Her heart raced a little when instead she felt someone's hand: Huey's. She felt the pencil fall into her grasp, thanks to Huey.

Before she returned to her math problems, she nodded at Huey who unbelievably let his lips form a small smirk. "Thanks."

...


	4. Chapter 4

**More Than Friends  
**

By** DaveTheWordsmith**

**Disclaimer: **Boondocks is owned by Sony Pictures Digital Inc. and Aaron McGruder. All the copyrights associated with Boondocks belong to them. Only the ideas contained within this story are the property of the author. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.

**Note: **I really, really, really want to thank everyone who read and reviewed chapter three of this fic. Also, a big thanks to everyone who read and reviewed my other two short fics **A Heck of a Drug** and **Gone Too Soon**. I appreciate the feedback and it helps to see what someone thinks about a piece of work. Sorry about the delay of this chapter, school + writing this fic and a few others at the same time slowed me down, but like P. Diddy, I can't stop & I won't stop. Eh eh, eh eh. But enough of this note, on to Chapter Four.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

Jazmine took a quiet sip of strawberry lemonade through her thick straw. She suppressed her cheeks with each intake of her drink, conscious of how her cheeks looked when they enlarged beyond the limit she put on them. Her best friend and potential future soul mate sat across from her at the table they sat at in the school library, eyes closed and his head down. Jazmine caught sight of Huey trapped in his own thoughts and glared at him.

"Huey. Hello?"

His eyes slowly opened. After a few seconds of wandering around at the other people walking around the library in various book aisles, they centered onto the mulatto girl waving at him.

Huey reached for his iPod Touch and lowered the volume of a 9/11 Special with Alex Jones program. After he took out his white ear buds, he yawned, eyes partly open, before he spoke. "Yeah?"

Jazmine shook her head. She rolled her eyes while she crossed her legs under the table. Her right leg over her left shook as she frowned. "I asked if you could please show extra support for our dance team at the pep rally coming up."

"Oh yeah, sure."

Jazmine smiled through the thought that something didn't feel right about Huey's answer. "Thanks."

Huey nodded to give a 'you're welcome' reply to Jazmine. He switched his attention back to his iPod, much to Jazmine's chagrin.

The crash from a few large textbooks that fell to the ground caught both Huey and Jazmine's attention. To their right, Cindy "Fearsome" McPhearson got up, dusted her black hoodie off, and then bent over to pick up her books. "Mah bad, y'all. Sorry I'm late," she said. She sucked her lips in, her face a light shade of red.

Huey shrugged his shoulders. "It's okay."

"Aight, cool."

"You didn't tell me Cindy would be here," Jazmine said. Head tilted a little to the side, she glared at Huey as her eyebrows grew close together.

"Oh, it ain't his fault. Dat's mah bad," Cindy said. She grabbed a nearby small, black office chair and rolled it over so she could sit down between Huey and Jazmine. "I needed da extra help at da last minute. Dis Calculus is whoopin' a sista's ass, fa real."

Jazmine pouted, arms crossed over her chest. She watched the way Huey looked at Cindy while she placed their Calculus book between them on the hard wood table and cracked it open to the second chapter. Whenever Huey would look at Cindy, she would either smile or laugh a little at something he reminded her of. It brought Jazmine memories of the way Huey would peek at her before she could catch it. To anyone else, his stare looked like any ordinary scowl or plain glare. However, she could see behind his hard exterior and peel it back to find that he most likely had feelings for her. Jazmine sighed, her cheek resting in her hand. Things sure have changed, she thought. Jazmine knew she liked Huey very much, maybe even loved him. But did he love her? Or is he starting to like Cindy? Jazmine stared at how Cindy made Huey chuckle those laughs he barely did for anyone. _**How could Cindy do that, but she herself couldn't anymore?**_ Jazmine asked her conscious.

"Jazmine?"

Jazmine's head snapped up to see Huey and Jazmine look on at her with confused looks on their faces. "Huh?" she asked. Her teeth bit the inside of her bottom lip.

Cindy's voice came down a little bit. "You aight? I tried askin' you a question a few times, but you didn't say nuttin'."

Jazmine nodded. At the last minute, she came up with a white lie, "Yeah I'm fine. I'm just a little tired. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"Yea, I know da feeling."

Jazmine grabbed her backpack placed in a chair nearby and stood up. "I've gotta go. Cheerleading practice is about to start."

"Aight. We can hang out later on at Huey's house," Cindy said. Her eyes directed its gaze over to her backpack she was rummaging through.

Jazmine took a moment to stare at Huey, occupied by the Calculus book, busy writing notes in his notebook. She wanted to rush over and hug him, kiss him, even beg him to stop hanging with Cindy so much. She only spent time with Huey once, on the hill, until Cindy showed up. Her heart burned with enormous furor at the sight of Cindy. She feared she would pounce on Cindy. She knew she most likely wouldn't do it unless Cindy pushed her completely over the edge, but those emotions echoed in her head. Jazmine sighed heavily, turned on her heel and left the room. As she passed the book checkout desk and pushed on the heavy door to exit, she growled. "Soon I'll have Huey all to myself, you witch."

* * *

"Get 'er, Cindy!"

"Yea, whoop dat ass, girl! She know better!"

Behind the school on the football field, Cindy stretched her right arm behind her back, her face fixed into a hard grimace. "Dis is fa tryin' ta fight me, bee-itch!"

She threw her other hand in a fierce jab at the red-haired girl's face, then threw her open hand and smacked her in the cheek, a little trick she learned from many previous fights. The small crowd of students her age and a little younger backed up once Cindy backed up from the girl who stumbled and bumped face first into the steel wire fence. Cindy ran up to the girl, pushed her from behind with one hand, and pressed her face into the fence with the other.

"If I eva catch yo ass on mah corner again, tryna take mah clientele, you finna get'cho ass beat so bad nobody gone recognize you. Got it?"

The girl mumbled, "Yes…"

Cindy turned her head to look at the other students behind her. "And y'all ain't see shit, undastand?" she asked. Once her peers understood, she grabbed her backpack she had on the ground and ran off the school grounds, leaving her opponent against the fence, crying hysterically.

It took twenty minutes to run through the busy streets of downtown Woodcrest before Cindy arrived at the Freeman household. She took slow steps into the foyer and placed her backpack by the front door. She tried her best to control her heavy breaths, ones she earned from her long, unbearable sprint back to the house. Sweat decorated her face, forming water spots on her forehead and her nose with reckless abandon. Once she closed the front door, she put her back against the wall, panting, desperate for air. She pulled on the collar of her white tee-shirt and started to jerk it back and forth to cool herself off. Cindy didn't care that she caused a few dark black scuff marks all over her white Nike Dunks; she could always buy new ones. The important thing was her safety, inside and away from the predatory, outside world. She winced and inhaled intensely through her teeth after her hand felt the burning feeling on her left cheek, aware that her adrenaline rush wore off.

Cindy moaned and stomped her foot. "Fuck! Dat bitch hit me harder den I thought! But she ain't gone take my corner ta sell her wack ass cookies no damn more, best buh'lee dat."

She snatched the very tip of her black beanie and slipped it off her head to show off her blonde hair tied into two, long pig-tails. Before she spat out another curse word, she closed her mouth and looked around, worried about whether she was alone in the house. She did not want Robert "Granddad" Freeman to hear her, a young fifteen year old girl, cuss in his house. She remembered the last time she heard Riley cuss up a storm about not getting some sneakers. His actions resulted in a wild butt whooping with his belt in front of her and an unaffected Huey, who had long since adjusted to Granddad's form of punishment.

"Anyone here?" she asked. She waited for a reply and did not receive one. Since Huey would not return from school until an hour later, busy at his cafeteria strike with Caesar to cajole the school into purchasing better quality fruit, vegetables and dairy products, the thought of the house to herself brought a grin to her face. She raced up the stairs, stomping her feet with each step, down the hallway and threw open Riley and Huey's bedroom.

"What da fuck?" Cindy asked. The two people sitting on Riley's bed broke up their deep kiss and looked up at Cindy. Cindy took a step back, dropping her beanie on the floor by her feet. Her hands shook and balled up into fists at the sight her eyes processed to translate for her brain. "Who's dis bitch?" she asked. She pointed at the Latina girl sitting next to Riley, who screamed.

Riley yelled as he jumped off the bed. "C-Murph, look, I can explain-"

Cindy glared at Riley, eyebrows furrowed. "Fuck you, Reezy," she said. Her eyes did her best to follow Riley's jump-off that scrambled from the bed, picking up her purse on the floor by the bed. "'N fuck you too, mamacita, you sloppy cock ass hoe ass trick ass bee-itch!" she raced over to the girl, grabbed a handful of hair and started to drag the yelling girl out of the room and down the stairs to the front door.

The girl said, her voice muffled by Cindy's hand, "Nooooooooo!"

Cindy growled and slapped the back of her head. "Shut da fuck up, bee-itch!"

"Cindy! Look, it ain't what'chu think! Stop!" Riley sprinted down the steps after Cindy, right hand grabbing his towel, the other on the rail. By the time he reached the bottom, Cindy tossed the girl out the house and slammed the door shut.

"Adios!" Cindy said. She locked the door and turned around, arms folded across her chest.

Cindy's scowl turned into a face full of sorrow. Riley turned his back to her, his head down. "It ain't what I think, huh? Reezy, you was prolly finna try 'n fuck dat girl. I thought we agreed ta stay together, like we Jay-Z 'n Beyoncé?"

Riley spun around, frowning. "We would be together if you wasn't out studyin' 'n ackin' like a smarty art broad 'n hangin' wit Huey 'n Jazmine all da damn time."

Cindy walked toward Riley. She stopped a few feet away from him, eyes narrow, lips tight together. "Oh, so I always gotta be wit'chu, lyin' under you like some dog or sum'thin? You can't trust me, Reezy?" she asked. She laughed. "Ohh I get it. You think I'm cheatin' cuz I'm out late Mondays through Thursdays. But dats what I gotta do now cuz I'm part of da new school program. I see what'chu doin. You jus usin' dat as an excuse ta go 'round messin wit dese otha bitches, cuttin' off yo nose ta spite yo face!"

Riley waved his finger in her face. "Cindy, look-"

Cindy grabbed his hand and shoved it down. "No. C'mon, Reezy. Jus be fa real. If you messin' wit otha bitches, jus say so. You ain't gotta lie. I ain't no square broad. Stop lyin. Stop lyin, man!" she said, poking Riley's white tee covered chest with her finger. A tear slid down her cheek.

He smiled. "You know what I been doin'. I been tryin' ta make dis legal hustle work right, 'n not have ta go back ta pushin' dat foul shit. Dats what I been doin'. I even helped you get da drivin' lessons you needed ta get yo learner's permit, a free hook-up, when you said you couldn't get da money up. Dats what I been doin'. Stop sweatin' me, girl."

Cindy frowned. "Reezy, I know you been up ta no good. I can see it in yo eyes. Jus tell da truth!"

Riley made a straight face while Cindy shook her head. "Well, dat ain't what I heard from mah girl Stacy, who knows yo boy Ed's girl. She told me what's up. Dey both saw y'all in Baltimore doin' who knows what, prolly still tryna sell dat illegal shit. Dats where you prolly went 'n got dat foul ass bee-itch dat'chu brought up in here!"

Riley put his hands up as if to signify he gave up. "Aight, fine! You wanna hear da truth?" Riley asked. He chuckled. His hands slapped the sides of his jeans once he lowered his arms. "Aight, here's da truth. Yea, I was down in Baltimore makin' it do what it do, cuz dats what a real nigga do. And yea, I'm messin wit otha broads buh'hind yo back. You happy now?"

Cindy shook her head. "No, cuz you lied like a damn rug 'n I had ta force da truth outta you. I can't take it no more, Reezy. You hurtin' me too much."

"What you mean? You leavin' me?"

Cindy slowly moved her head up and down. Her eyes let some more tears free to trickle down her face. "Yea. You can mess wit all da chicks you want now. Guess I been nuttin' to you all dis time. I'm out."

Riley reached for her hand but she moved it away. He used his other hand to grab her arm. "C'mon Cindy, we still cool. You jus talkin crazy, right?"

"No. Now let me go, Reezy," Cindy said. She tried to slip from his grip but he held on to her arm even tighter. "C'mon Reezy, let go a me!"

"Aww, stop playin wit me Cindy. You cain't fool me," Riley said. His cocky smile made Cindy back up a few feet. "You know deep down you want some Riley Escobar."

"Riley, stop playin. Stop it. Stop it!" Cindy yanked on her arm until she broke free from a chuckling Riley. She ran to the front door until Riley grabbed her from behind. She yelled at the top of her lungs while he scooped her up. Legs swinging in the air, she smashed her forehead onto his.

"Cot dayum!" Riley said. His legs buckled as he dropped a horizontal, face-up Cindy onto the floor. As she got back up, she felt the wind from Riley's body when she stepped out of the way of his body that almost collided with hers. She jumped out of his way once again, unfazed by his hand that accidentally smacked her in the cheek. She dashed to the front door which opened before she reached for the door knob. For the first time, she felt a bit relieved once the tall, young man with the large afro stepped inside. Holding a white picket sign that read "NO FRESH FOOD, NO PEACE" in black letters, he placed it upside down against the nearby wall.

Huey, eyebrow arched, looked at a panting Cindy, who backed away from him, and then a just as tired Riley, who wiped some sweat off his forehead. "What's going on? I heard screaming and running going on in here."

Riley's eyebrow shot up, his head turned to the side. "Man, nigga, it wadn't nuttin you gotta be worryin' bout. You see we jus fine, right?" he asked. "Dayum, always gotta be all nosey 'n shit."

"Be glad I'm not Granddad, Riley, or else you'd be grounded again."

"Whateva."

Huey glanced at Riley, who began to ascend the stairs and head into his room. Cindy snuck over to the front door while Huey watched Riley, looking back at Huey whose back faced her.

"Cindy, you okay?"

Cindy mumbled a few words as she turned to face Huey. Her lips quivered as they formed a small smile. She laughed. "…Yeah, I'm jus fine."

"Really? Because it looks like someone slapped you on the cheek," he said. His eyes were glued on the red mark right under her left eye.

Cindy's eyes bulged. "Oh, dis?" she asked. Her hand rubbed the spot in question. "Oh, Riley ain't do dat. Some crazy ass broad at school called me a wigger, so I had ta show dat bitch she cain't fuck wit me."

"Okay. So if Riley didn't do that, what happened in here before I showed up? I don't remember Granddad allowing us to play around in the house."

Cindy shrugged her shoulders, her lip curled. "Nuttin."

"Sure?"

Cindy's eyebrows slanted down as she huffed and puffed, glaring at Huey. "Yea I'm sure, Huey, dayum! Stop askin' me, man! Jeez!" she said.

Huey kept his straight demeanor through Cindy's outburst. He looked at Cindy one last time before he began his trek up the stairs. "All right, so you won't mind if I ask Riley himself what happened."

"Naaaaaaaaw!" Cindy jumped up the seven steps necessary to reach Huey and held onto him, her arms wrapped around his waist. She followed him until the halfway point up the stairs, where he stopped at the sound of her voice.

"Fine, I'll tell you, jus don't talk ta him!" Cindy said. She didn't care that she sobbed the hardest she ever had since she found out the year before that her real mother died a few days after she was born. Huey stopped pulling on Cindy's hands clamped together around his stomach and sat down on the steps below them, pulling her down with him, her face now in his chest.

"Tell me. Now."

She said, her voice muffled by Huey's shirt, "It was Riley…he tried ta…" she said. Her mouth stopped once a big wave of tears hit her, her words reduced to basic mumbles. A long beat passed before she started to speak again. "At first we was jus talkin n den…I thought he was gone' try 'n ra…ra…mess wit me…I knew I shoulda left his ass…fuck, I feel like such a punk ass bitch…"

Huey gently grabbed Cindy's face and lifted it from his black Assata Shakur shirt. "Come on. Let's go in the living room."

Cindy ignored him, busy drowning in her cold, heartbroken tears. Huey raised one hand and put it on her back, moving it up and down the best he could. A few minutes passed before he got up and grabbed her hand. He helped a crying Cindy up to her feet, led her down into the living room and sat down with her in the couch. Cindy shivered when she felt his lean, muscular arm slip behind her and rest on her shoulders. Multiple thoughts flashed through her mind, ones she felt conflicted about. Her cries came to a stop once she looked up at Huey, his dark, brown eyes directly lined up with hers. Cindy wanted to shy away from Huey, her face more red than before. She found something in eyes that felt very familiar, maybe a little too familiar.

"Cindy?" Huey started to move his arm away from her, realizing what was going on. "Look, about Riley-"

"Jus shut up, Huey," Cindy said. Once she rested her head against Huey's chest and she felt his arm over her chest, she let out a big sigh that built up in her lungs. She pulled herself up and placed a hand on the side of Huey's face, her fingers planted deep into his afro that stuck out before it rounded up at the top. The air around her face grew warmer as she drew near Huey, who decided to do the same to Cindy. They both tilted their heads to the right as their lips made contact.

**_It feels like I'm with Riley again,_** she thought while they engaged in their tongue kissing contest. Her heart pounded even faster when she felt his hand slide down her lower back and stay there. Eyes closed, she could feel them twitch from Huey's sudden decision to lightly bite her bottom lip. Cindy gasped when Huey broke their kiss. Not because it suddenly ended, but because of someone who gasped when they walked in the room.

"Oh my God!" the person said.

Cindy turned and saw the person she hoped not to see. A trembling Jazmine stood by Cindy and Huey, eyes wide open, unable to speak a word. Huey lowered his head, shaking it slowly with his hand over his forehead. Jazmine stepped back, tears in her eyes, as Huey got up and approached her, his eyes and mouth wide open. His hand reached for hers, but she moved hers out of the way. Before Huey could call her name, she ran out of the living room and out the wide open front door.

While Huey stood in the center of the living room, staring out the door, Cindy leaned back in the couch. She ran her hands over her face so hard she felt her skin would peel off of her face. "Fuck…"

...


	5. Chapter 5

**More Than Friends  
**

By** DaveTheWordsmith**

**Disclaimer: **Boondocks is owned by Sony Pictures Digital Inc. and Aaron McGruder. All the copyrights associated with Boondocks belong to them. Only the ideas contained within this story are the property of the author. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.

**Note: **I want to give many thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. I really appreciate the feedback. It informs me that I'm doing my job as a writer. This story gave me plenty of grief at the beginning of the writing process, mostly because it's an unusual pairing. In the end, it turned out better than expected.

Here's a quick warning: this chapter is shorter than the other four due to the fact it's the conclusion of this story. Again, much thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. Here's Chapter Five, the wind-up.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Five  
**

Jazmine ceased her anger-filled run and settled for a slow stroll. She walked on the grassy part of the sidewalk, under the large trees decorated up and down the street, her hands behind her back. As she observed the orange-red portion of the sky near the horizon below the purple portion, she picked up the sounds of someone's breathing behind her, accompanied by rapid steps. Jazmine's sigh contained nothing but disgust. She abhorred hearing that woman.

She heard Cindy from behind, who said between breaths, "Jazzy – wait up – let's – talk!"

Jazmine gazed over her left shoulder at Cindy, an evil glow in her eyes. She refused to stop at Cindy's request and increased the speed of her steps. Her eyes remained straight ahead, focused on her home only a few minutes away in walking distance. She frowned when Cindy maneuvered to the right side of the wide path. Cindy jumped ahead of Jazmine to block her path.

Cindy wheezed as she walked over to Jazmine. She put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I wanna apologize n stuff…fa what I did."

Cindy released a silent gasp at Jazmine who gave her a sharp, piercing glower, one that would've made Huey take notice. Jazmine quietly snarled. Her body trembled, her knuckles turning white from the tight fists made that shook at her sides.

Jazmine slipped past Cindy, "Leave me alone."

Cindy grabbed Jazmine's right arm, shaking her head. "Nuh uh, girl. We finna talk."

Jazmine slapped Cindy's hand clutched onto her arm. "I said, leave me alone."

Cindy retracted her stinging hand and flapped it in the air. Jazmine turned on her heel and headed the other direction, nostrils flared, and her eyes narrow. She fumed through parted lips. Cindy caught up with Jazmine. She matched her fast pace. "C'mon. Stop bein so difficult."

Jazmine halted, as did Cindy. She turned and stared deep into Cindy's vulnerable eyes. "You know I really like Huey. When I saw you kissing him, it hurt, Cindy. Very bad."

Jazmine's cheeks puffed up as she folded her arms over her chest, her head to the sky. Cindy waited until a loud motorcycle whizzed by to reply. She sighed. "I know. I'm hurtin' too, cuz I didn't mean ta do it, at first."

Jazmine's eyebrow rose at Cindy's voice that trailed off. Her eyebrows pressed inward. With bitterness in her voice, she peered at Cindy and asked, "That's it? That's your reason for kissing him?"

Cindy jammed her hands in her pockets, unaware of the fire that grew in Jazmine's heart. She shrugged, her head bent low. She kicked a rock by her foot into the street. "Yea. I couldn't help it. Ta be fa real about it, Huey was prolly feelin da same thang I was feelin."

Jazmine gasped. Her whole body began to tremble. She couldn't believe it. Cindy, her best friend, had blown her heart into smithereens with a shotgun and caused it to explode from the evil, reactive chemicals gathered within the four chambers of the vital organ. Jazmine's breathing rate increased as her face grew boiling hot. The point of no return for her anger grew farther away with each passing second. Thoughts of Cindy with Huey holding hands, hugging, even kissing, made her blood turn pitch black.

Jazmine walked toward Cindy, who she swore give a small smirk. "You bitch!"

Jazmine screamed at the top of her lungs. She dashed over to Cindy and pounced on her. They crashed into the soft, tall grass behind Cindy, rolling across the giant, green, spacious lawn that belonged to Jazmine and Huey's neighbors. The two girls yelled and screamed while they pulled at each other's hair over the man they both desired to claim as their own.

"Argh, Jazmine! Damnit! Stop it!" Cindy tugged on Jazmine's left, poofy afro. Her grip loosened when Jazmine growled and slapped Cindy across the lips.

Cindy stretched out her fingers to grab more of Jazmine's orange hair. She yanked on Jazmine's pink shirt collar, causing the material to burn her very light brown skin. Cindy swung their bodies in unison to the right to gain the upper hand. Now on top, Cindy clutched Jazmine's neck with both hands. Jazmine hissed in response in an attempt to breathe through her mouth instead of her nose that throbbed with intense pain. She pounded Jazmine's head down against the lawn over and over. Jazmine yowled in suffering, her vision more blurry than before.

"What's wrong wit'chu?" Cindy wrapped one arm around Jazmine's upper body.

"You mean, what's wrong with _you_?" Jazmine wrapped her legs around Cindy, unfazed by the discomfort in her upper chest. She grunted at the pressure Jazmine desired to aggregate on Cindy's ribs and stomach. She threw Cindy on her side, holding on to her with both arms and legs. She clubbed Cindy on the side of her head with partially open fists.

Jazmine said with each punch, "Take that, and that, and that!"

Cindy held her hand over her ear to protect her head while she thrashed her legs between Jazmine's wrapped around them. Jazmine laughed before she grabbed the roots of Cindy's pig-tails. She winced at Cindy's knees ramming into her thighs. The adrenaline that ran through her system kept her from feeling the complete pang.

"Huey's mine, you witch!" Jazmine leaned her neck back. Before Cindy could throw a right cross, Jazmine threw her forehead into Cindy's. Cindy shrieked, holding her forehead that started to leak a few drops of blood. Jazmine cursed through the sharp tingles at the top of her brow. She found herself pulled in from Cindy's free arm, unable to use her good, right hand. Cindy formed her other hand into a claw shape and raked it over Jazmine's face. Jazmine drew an acute breath at the sharp pain from Cindy's hand that scraped across her left eye along with a few small pebbles of dirt on her eyelid that fell into the corner of her eye. She screamed and grabbed at her face, wiping the dirt away with both hands. Cindy sat up and threw herself into Jazmine, forcing her back down on the grass, dented from their bodies. Jazmine only saw the top of Cindy's chin and neck, due to Cindy's hands firmly pressed down on her shoulders.

Cindy coughed. "Hold on, let me explain alla dis."

"You don't need to explain…" Jazmine moved her right leg under Cindy's left close to her body so her bent knee faced Cindy's stomach. "Anything!"

Jazmine thrust her knee into Cindy's stomach area. She felt Cindy's cold sweat, blood and spit splatter on her cheek as she howled, her eyes and mouth wide open. "I wanted Huey first!"

Jazmine, with tears in her eyes, slapped Cindy in the face. She followed the slap with a hard left punch to her nose. Cindy fell on top of Jazmine, her head over Jazmine's left shoulder, the two girls huffing and puffing. Jazmine's face fixed itself into a tight grimace. She felt Cindy should suffer; suffer for theft of the one she wanted as her own.

Jazmine stuttered through tears, almost out of energy. "Why did you take my Huey?"

"You…" Cindy pulled herself up a few inches from the ground before she fell back down on Jazmine. She said, between deep breaths, "You gone let me…talk to ya now?"

Jazmine grabbed her face sprinkled with dirt, her tears mingled with the blood and sweat that ran trails down her cheeks. She heaved up and down from her sobs, unable to expel anymore of her anger on Cindy. Cindy twirled over to her back, next to Jazmine, the two both on their back, facing up to the sky, a shade of purple on the top half, orange on the bottom. Minutes of silence passed, save for the passing of a few cars and birds, before Jazmine regarded Cindy. She could see Cindy's bottom lip began to swell up.

"I neva really liked Huey," Cindy said.

Jazmine gasped. "Huh?"

Cindy reached over and slapped Jazmine on the arm. "You heard me."

Jazmine sat up. She spat out a few blades of grass lodged between her lips. Cindy gingerly helped herself up. "But, but I thought you two were…"

Cindy shook her head then rubbed her nose. "Nuh-uh. Jazzy, I was wrong fa what I did. Not jus cuz I hurt'chu, but, I kinda used Huey, too."

"What do you mean?"

"Reezy kept doin me wrong, 'n I needed, I needed someone ta, ya know…express mah'self wit. Huey was da closest thing to Riley, so…"

Jazmine's face became smoother, blanker, less wrinkled from her anger. She blinked twice. "Oh."

"Yee-uh. Buh'sides, I can tell you really wanna be more den friends wit him. You damn near whupped mah ass," Cindy said. She smiled and then snickered. "Shee-it, maybe you can be a member of mah all girl squad."

Jazmine's lips curled into a smile. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Cindy nodded. "S'all good. Jus don't tell nobody you put me down wit a lucky punch."

Jazmine gawked at Cindy rubbing her nose. She raised her right eyebrow. "That wasn't a lucky punch. Admit it, I got you good."

"Only cuz you was squeezin da fuck outta me wit dem thick ass legs you got," Cindy said. She watched Jazmine, who sat with her legs crossed Indian style. "I guess cuz you a cheerleader, dey want you in top shape, huh?"

Jazmine sucked her lips in a little as she felt her face flush. "That isn't the only reason why I'm in shape."

She glanced up at Cindy, who she assumed saw her reddish face. Cindy fell on her back, chortling. "Ooooooooooh Jazmine, you a freak!"

"Am not!"

"You don't have ta tell me, I know it," Cindy said. "Ay, let's get outta heah before someone sees us."

* * *

Cindy wrapped her arm around Jazmine as they helped each other walk down the street to the Freeman's. Jazmine let Cindy go once they arrived at the front door. Cindy groaned as she reached into her pocket for the key. She unlocked the door and let them both inside. Jazmine closed the door behind them as they passed through the foyer into the living room. Sitting in the couch, his eyes on the big screen television, Riley dropped his Xbox 360 controller in his lap when he caught Cindy and Jazmine enter the living room. Cindy groaned as she held her stomach with her left arm. Jazmine stood at her side.

"Damn, whut happened? Y'all get jumped or sumthin?"

"Shut up, Reezy," Cindy said. Jazmine kept silent as they both sat next to Riley, Cindy the closest to him.

Riley clapped after he eyed the two girls. "Oh shit! Y'all two was fightin', huh?"

Jazmine sighed and shook her head. Riley chuckled until Cindy frowned at him. He picked his controller up, ready to start an NBA basketball exhibition game.

Cindy raised a fist and held it sideways, aimed at Riley. "You betta not say shit 'bout it."

Riley nearly crossed his eyes to gaze at her fist. He guffawed. "Pssh! You ain't gotta worry bout me. Worry 'bout him."

Riley consulted Huey with his eyes. Huey placed himself in the other sofa, a bottle of natural lemon tea in his hand. Cindy watched Huey's eyes focus on Jazmine, skip past her and return to his drink that he put to his lips.

Riley's cackles started up again. "Ay, Huey. Dem two was fightin' ovah you."

Cindy glared at Riley, about ready to punch him but she rescinded that decision. "Oooooooh Reezy, you really pushin it."

* * *

Jazmine watched Riley and Cindy talk among themselves too low for her to eavesdrop. She smiled as Riley and Cindy gave a quick hug and handshake. As they played their video game, Jazmine looked at Riley and Cindy, enjoying their rekindled friendship, one that could possibly turn into a relationship. Jazmine felt her body twitch and jump at the person who sat next to her. Without looking, she could feel Huey's eyes on her. She glanced at him.

"I'm sorry for-" they both said at the same time. Jazmine glimpsed Huey turn and place his drink by his feet. The warmth in her face intensified when Huey took her hand. She found herself ogling his eyes, his afro, his entire face, an action seldom performed in a long time.

Huey cleared his throat. "Jazmine, what Cindy and I did, it was only a-"

Jazmine squeezed his hand. "Forget about it."

She broke a long period of silence between them after a nervous exhalation. "Huey, ever since school started, I've acted like a horrible, selfish, picky, bossy, giant monster, especially to you. I'm sorry for the horrible stuff I've done to you."

She swiveled away from him, her vision submerged under her tears. Jazmine's trip away from her seat was cut short. She gazed down at her hand, held onto by Huey.

He moved closer to her. "I'm at fault too. When I spent more time tutoring Cindy than with you, I made a big mistake."

Jazmine desired to speak, but her mouth remained shut. The look in Huey's eyes said everything she needed to know.

Huey continued. "I should've acknowledged you instead of listening to my faulty judgment. I don't know how I can make it up to you."

Jazmine smiled. She shook her head. "Let's just start over."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Jazmine scooted closer to Huey and embraced him. She sighed at the warmth his body radiated into hers. The soft touch of his hands on her back slid up her shoulders, over her clavicle and to her cheeks. Jazmine closed her eyes, taking in everything. She whimpered at the warmth she felt from his soft kiss he planted on her lips. The gentle touch disappeared from her face. Jazmine slowly opened her eyes, burying her face into Huey's chest. Jazmine jumped when Huey retracted his arms from around her. Upon sight of the old man in front of them, she knew why Huey changed his attitude.

Granddad performed a little dance, much to Huey's displeasure. The heat flared in Jazmine's face as she watched Huey shake his head. Granddad stopped having his fun and laughed. "Lawd, I never thought I'd see the day: Huey messin wit two girls in one day. Now I can die a happy man!"

Huey glared at his grandfather. "Granddad."

"I thought Riley lied, but now I see it's the truth," Granddad smiled. Before he departed to the kitchen, he said, "Listen boy, be glad nobody can call you gay anymore, especially your brother over there."

* * *

Cindy glanced at Riley while he played Madden 11. "So you ain't mad bout what I did?"

Riley grinned. "I was, but den I thought about it. Fightin fo a dude u want, dat ain't no bad thang. Dats a compliment, cuz ain't nuttin betta dan a ride or die chick, whetha she gone stay wit dat dude or not."

Cindy's eyes and lips smiled. "Fa real?"

"Haaaaail yee-uh. I'mma keep it one hunnid, doe. It ain't been da same wit'out'chu. You da only one who's been down wit me since day one."

"Aw, Reezy."

"Fa real. I cut dem otha girls off 'n told Ed I ain't down wit da coke game no mo. I treated you wrong, 'n dats mah bad."

Cindy didn't care if she repeated her previous words again. "Fa real?"

"If I'm lyin', I'm flyin'."

"Aight, den if we startin' ovah," Cindy put her hand in front of Riley, preparing for a handshake. "Promise no mo worryin bout me bein at school longer den usual and no mo callin me names like smarty art broad."

Riley smiled. He shook her hand, his other holding the Xbox 360 controller. "Promise."

Cindy grinned. "Aight, cool."

"Yep," he said. He smirked. "So what da deal wit'chu? You and yo moms cool now?"

She nodded. "Yeah we straight now. She said next week I can move back in."

"Cool, cuz I was gettin tired of you eatin damn near all da food portions."

Cindy laughed. "Man, jus shut up 'n pass me a controller. You goin down, son."

Riley tossed her the second Xbox 360 controller that previously rested on the coffee table. "You finna learn da hard way why dey gone put me in da NFL right now. Problem is Granddad won't let me."

Cindy socked him. "Whateva. Jus suck some, punk."

...

**The End.**


End file.
